Sight-feed attachment for lubricators.



APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20. I91 I.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

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FRANK W. EDWARDS, OF LOGANSPOBT, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE CHICAGO LUBRI-CATOR COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SIGHT-REED ATTACHMENT FOB, L UBRICATOIRS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

Original application .filed Augustze, 1908, Serial No. 450,095. Dividedand this application filed. September of Indiana, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Sight-Feed AttachmentsforLubricators, of which the following is a full, clear, andexactdescription.

Thls case 1s divided out of my case filed August 24, 1908, Serial No.450,095, (Patent No. 1,009,290, dated November 21, 1911).

An essential requirement in a sight-feed lubricator is that it shallpermit such. ob-

servations of the feed that the operator may determine whether thelubricator is feeding with the required regularity. To this endsight-feed lubricators have always been constructed with sight-feedchambers through which the oil passes drop by drop, the whole v or someportion of the walls ofthese chambers belng of glass. These glasses areusually called observation glasses and have been of two general types.Inone of thesetypes the glass is in the form of a tube of uniformdiameter and having walls of uniform thickness, the oil passing throughthe tube. It is highly important that the sight feed chamber should beso located as to be readily observable from various points of view aboutthe lubricator, and more importantstill that its interior should besubjected to light and that its interior should be illuminated by thelight coming from various directions and passing through the transparentwalls of the chamber. This facility of observation has been secured inthe old well-known tubular glass which is held at its ends in supportingarms usually provided with packing. While this form of glass was idealin that it was so placed that the feed of oil could be observed fromvarious positions, and also in that it permitted the light to enter thechamber from various directions thus affording perfect illumination onthe lubricator, yet it has certain inherent and radical defects whichhave never been overcome and for which heretofore no remedy has beenproposed. These defects arose from the frequent breakage due to thefragile character of the tube itself, no such glass having beenheretofore constructed of sufficient strength to withstand the internalsteam pressures and the strains due to the variation of temperature andthe getting Serial No. 650,394.

out of line of the mountings. These glasses frequently broke, thusputting the lubricator out of service, and the danger from flyingparticles of glass was so serious as to cause the use of wire guardsaround the glasses, thus adding to the expense and interfering withready observation. The other type of glasses is known as the bulls-eye.These glasses are invariably mounted in pockets, usually of metal, andfitted into the side walls of the sight-feed chambers. These glasses aresolid and usually of greater axial length than diameter. The pockets orchambers containing the glasses are usually arranged in pairs, beingplaced in line with each other on opposite sides of the sightfeedchamber. These glasses largely overcome the liabilityof breakage, butthey do not afford ready observation from different points, having, infact, only small areas exposed to the light, and being for the most partsurrounded by solid walls; and they cannot always be so placed as topermit the light to enter through both glasses or from opposite sides.of the chamber. Further these glasses are sothick and their exposedareas so limited that they do not afiord good illumination, and withturbid water the feed of the oil cannotrbe observed readily. Theseobjections are so pronounced that it is generally recognized that thebulls-eye type of glass affords .less facility for correct observationof the feed of the oil than the tubular glass, but these bulls-eyes havebeen and are used because of their avoidance of the objections totubular glasses above stated.

In my Patents Nos. 952,515, 952,611 and 953,67 5, and my applicationSerial No. 450,096, filed August 24:, 1908, I have shown a number ofreinforced observation glasses which secure all of the advantages,without the. defects, of both forms of glasses just referred to; that isto say, they insure complete illumination of the sightfeed, permitperfect observation, and combine" strength and safety. The presentinvention consists of a mounting for these .glasses whereby the whole oftheir central thick-walled portion is exposed unobstructedly, and incarrying out the invention the upper and lower feed-arms of thelubricator oil-bowl are provided with flanges projecting therefrom inopposite directions and having a clear space between their adjacentedges, the observation glass being supported at opposite ends withinthese flanges and exposed to the light clear around in the space betweensaid adjacent ends, and held in place fluid-tight by an adjustablefollower in one of the feed-arms and suitable packing combined with afeedtip cup and a feed tip made in one integral piece with the lowerfeed arm, and a removable hub carrying the oil feed valves.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating the invention, the view is avertical section of one end of a lubricator of approved construction,with the upper and lower feedarms constructed to serve as such and alsoas a mounting for the sight-feed glass.

The oil-bowl 1 may be of approved construction and shape, and providedwith any desired number of sight-feeds. For purposes of illustration itis supposed to be sufficient to describe the invention as applied to thefeed-arms at one end of the oil-bowl, and which may be utilized to feedthe lubricant to one of the engine cylinders.

The upper feed-arm 2 and the lower feedarm 3 are, preferably, cast withthe oil-bowl. In the lower feed-arm is a bottom opening 4 closed by aplug 5. Through this opening is inserted into the oil-bowl the oil feedpipe 6 which is supported in a tubular nut 7 screwed into the upper wallof the lower feed-arm.

The outer end of the lower feed-arm is made with an internallyscrewthreaded boss 8 on its bottom, in which is mounted the hub 9 intowhich is screwed the oil-feed valve 10. The top of this feed-arm isprovided with an upstanding annular flange 11. Between the upper andlower portions of this lower feed-arm is a feed-tip cup 12 made integralwith the feed-arm, and having the packing-receiving ledge or rim 13,above which is the upstanding annular flange 11 referred to. The cup 12has rising from it the oil-feed tip 1 1 made integral with it.

The upper feed-arm has annular flanges of like diameter projecting aboveand below and at right angles to it and constituting a socket 15, whichis internally screwthreaded. In this socket is a screw follower 16perforated transversely at 17 and chambered centrally at 18 to registerrespectively with the steam and oil passage 19 and the sightfeed glass.This follower has an operating stem 20 projecting up through a hub 21which closes the upper end of the upper feed-arm socket 15, and saidstem is squared at 22 or otherwise constructed to facilitate theoperation of the follower.

The reinforced observation glass, which may be of any of the variousforms shown in the several cases referred to herein, is herein shown at23 as having a central portion 24 thicker than its ends 25 and withshoulders 26 at the meeting points of center and ends and it alsoprovided with a central longitudinal oil passage 27. These shouldersreceive the gaskets 28 and next to the gaskets and between them and theadjacent metal of the ledge or rim 13 and the follower are bufferwashers 29, which last pre vent the metal from cutting into the gaskets.

The glass is inserted by removing hub 21 and the follower 17 placing abufler washer and then a gasket on the ledge or rim 13, then insertingthe glass through the socket 141 on top of said gasket, then putting agasket on the upper shoulder of the glass, then a lender washer, andthen screwing in the follower 16 and hub 21, until the follower exertsenough pressure to cause the gaskets to close all joints, steam, waterand oil tight.

The passage 19 leads to a port 30 con trolled by a valve 31, and next tothis port is the passage 32 which opens to the steam pipe 33 and to theoil connection with the part to be lubricated through the sight-feed.Hence, if the sight-feed is to be dismembered or is broken, it may beentirely out out by closing the valves 31 and 1.0 and draining it of itscontents through the port 34, which is controlled by the valve 35 in thenipple 36 which extends out from the lower feed-arm, and has the outlet37.

A peculiarity of this construction is that the exposed portion of theobservation glass is wholly unobstructed, the glass being wholly exposedbetween the lower edge of the upper feed-arm socket 15 and the upperedge of the lower feed-arms upper flange, and hence the illumination ofthe glass is complete and the facility of observation of the feedincreased.

It will be observed that as the follower 16 is screwed down in order toput the proper pressure upon the gaskets to insure leaktight joints, thelower end of the observation glass may pass freely into the feed-tipcup, while its upper end correspondingly projects into the chamber 18 inthe follower, without danger of injuring the glass. This is madepossible by supporting the lower packing ring or gasket on the ledge 13independently of the surrounding flange 11.

Making the feed-tip cup and feed tip integral withthe feed arm effectssome economies in construction, and particularly in assembling theparts. The removable hub 9 with its oil feed valve 10 affords thenecessary access to the feed tip for cleaning purposes, without thenecessity of removing the whole feed or dismantling it.

The construction herein described while specially designed for use withreinforced observation glasses of the kind specified, is capable of usewith some forms of tubular glasses also. 4

While I have shown and described the follower 16 as screw threaded inorder to render it movable and adjustable in its socket, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to this construction. It isessential, however, that the movement and adjustability of the followershould be effected by such means as will hold in use.

hat I claim is In a sight feed attachment for lubricators, an oil bowlprovided with upper and lower feed arms having flanges projectingtherefrom toward one another with a clear space between their adjacentedges, the lower feed arm having an inwardly projecting gasketreceivingledge, and a feed-tip cup and a feed tip made in one integral piece withone another and with thefeed arm and located below said ledge, anobservation glass of the character described arranged within saidflanges, a screw follower arranged in the upper feed arm in line withthe observation glass, the lower feed arm provided with a detachable hubcarrying the oil feed valve and arranged in line with the feed tip, agasket interposed between the ledge and the observation glass in thelower feed arm, and a gasket interposed between the follower and theobservation glass in the upper feed arm, on which gaskets theobservation glass is yieldingly supported and capable of endwisemovement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day ofSeptember, A. D.

FRANK W. EDWARDS. Witnesses E. A. FINOKEL, LILLIE M. PERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. O.

